Chapter 2

A few miles away from my first airbnb location I have taken residence at my second airbnb location. Erdal and Emily have graciously welcomed me into their home. Their two dogs make me miss my pup back home in Colorado.

The Vegas heat has been prohibitive. Walking miles along the strip in interview attire is just not an option when it is 112 degrees. I have been mostly staying indoors while vigorously attacking online applications.

For the second time, I was invited to a casino for a “pre employment screening”. It’s like an interview before the interview. This time it was in North Las Vegas at the Santa Fe Station Casino. By Vegas standards, it’s a smaller casino, but still larger than anything in my native Colorado. On a weekday morning, the poker room had three active tables. They mostly spread low limit and small stakes no limit hold’em games, but allegedly sometimes an omaha game breaks out. I hoped for the opportunity to speak with the poker room manager, but he was busy proposition playing in a 2-4 limit game.

So far in Vegas I have not had an interview with a member of the poker staff or an audition with a single casino. I just received my first response to an online application, which I submitted more than 3 weeks ago. The Treasure Island Casino informed me that they thought my credentials were impressive, but that they had already filled the position. If this is any indication of the response time, it may still be a couple of weeks before I obtain a legitimate interview or audition in Las Vegas.

However, the search must continue. A short 4 hour commute from Vegas is the largest and busiest poker room in the world. The Commerce Casino in LA has 243 poker tables. They are always hiring, and next Tuesday they have open auditions. This is an opportunity that I can not pass up.

My journey is headed in a new direction. I’m going to California.

One of my oldest and dearest friends lives a short drive away from several large card rooms in California. I will be calling his couch home while I check out the very busy poker scene in LA. Places like the Bicycle Club Casino and the Hustler Casino rival or exceed anything that Vegas has to offer. Should Vegas contact me about a dealing opportunity I will just make the drive back. Whoever offers me a job first wins.